Title: Stardust
by Neil GaimanPublishing Info: August 29, 2006 by HarperCollins
Source: Library
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Fantasy, Young Adult
Find it on the web: Buy from Amazon // GoodreadsDate Completed: January 24, 2014
Related Posts: Fortunately, the Milk, American Gods, The Ocean at the End of the Lane, Neverwhere, InterWorld (InterWorld #1)
Hopelessly crossed in love, a boy of half-fairy parentage leaves his mundane Victorian-English village on a quest for a fallen star in the magical realm. The star proves to be an attractive woman with a hot temper, who plunges with our hero into adventures featuring witches, the lion and the unicorn, plotting elf-lords, ships that sail the sky, magical transformations, curses whose effects rebound, binding conditions with hidden loopholes and all the rest.
STARDUST is my second full-length novel by Neil Gaiman and pretty much as soon as I finished listening to THE GRAVEYARD BOOK, I knew I had to pick up another audiobook written and narrated by Neil Gaiman as soon as I could. I had actually never seen the movie OR read the book before so I was really anxious to see how I would like this one!
I had one major qualm about STARDUST before I started and that was that it dealt with fairies. I’m almost never a really big fan of fairy stories and books about fae so I was a bit nervous that STARDUST wouldn’t be enjoyable for me, but really anything that Neil Gaiman narrates can’t go that wrong, right? The book did surround a major fairy plot in that the main character Tristran is half-fairy himself and he goes on a quest to find a fallen star that landed in the realm of Fairy to bring to his heart’s desire. Did I hate the fairy-plot? No. Did I love it? Not really. Statistically speaking, I’m still not a fan of fairy books but that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy it! I really appreciated this new fairy tale for the modern age from Neil Gaiman (compared to The Princess Bride. I DIED.) and how it really relates to both children and adults alike!
Of course I loved the banter back and forth between Tristran and Yvaine. (And of course I had to look up how to spell their names because I don’t get to see these things in audiobooks!) I just love bantering relationships and hate-to-love relationships. Obviously the two don’t get along at first. Tristan’s sole purpose of this voyage is to capture the Star and bring her back to Wall. Yvaine is a strong personality and what woman wants to be captured in any way? I really liked their back-and-forth and how throughout the journey, both of them really came to appreciate each other.
Really throughout the whole book, I wasn’t exactly sure how the two separate story lines would come together. Once they finally did, I realized I really should have seen it coming but for some reason I couldn’t fit those pieces together until the reveal. I thought it was a very nice ending to the book and I really enjoyed the way everything wrapped up!
For some reason this was a really hard review for me to write… I think because I was just lost in Neil Gaiman’s narration and the world that he created for this new fairy tale. THE GRAVEYARD BOOK is still my favorite Gaiman to date (not like I’ve read that many yet haha) but STARDUST was definitely enjoyable and light but with dark plot points as well.
Tristran // Character Obsessions: Victoria, finding the fallen star. Tristran was an interesting character. He’s a teenager and yet there was such an air of innocence that surrounded him. He felt naïve, either a fool in love or a boy who needed to mature. In a way, I guess he was both and he certainly did mature on his quest.
Yvaine // Character Obsessions: Hating Tristran, healing her leg. Naturally, I loved Yvaine. I love girls with strong personalities and I really enjoy that love-to-hate relationship. I was actually rooting for her more than Tristan half the time! She was totally my kind of lady.
Kept Me Hooked On: Fairies. Statistically speaking, I don’t like books involving fairies. They’re just not my thing. But I really appreciated that this was a sort of traditional fairy tale so the concept really didn’t both me. I think that’s sort of a new revelation! I don’t hate all fairy plots but I guess it depends on how they’re involved in the book.
Left Me Wanting More: Reality. I mean, it is a fairy tale. And the weird thing is that the settings are split up between Fairy and the “human” town of Wall. But even still, I think I wanted things more grounded in reality and that’s why I don’t do well with fairy plots. Sometimes things just seem like they get a bit too carried away and sometimes it’s just not my style.
Addiction Rating
Read it
STARDUST was good! I was never bored but it never exactly blew me away either. It’s a Gaiman classic and really enjoyable, especially listening to his narration!
BOOKS LIKE STARDUST
(Click the cover to see my review!)
9 thoughts on “Stardust – Neil Gaiman”
I saw the movie before I even new that Stardust was a book. It is one of my FAVORITE movies. I just recently listened to the audiobook. I thought it was okay. The book and movie are soooo different and my favorite parts of the movie really aren’t even in the book. I’m hoping to do a post comparing the two soon.
This is the only Gaiman book I’ve read and I really only read it because I LOVE the movie. Seriously, watch it; it doesn’t deal with fairies. I was kind of meh about the book… I enjoyed it, but since I had watched the movie first and loved it, I think I wanted the book to be more like it. I would like to try out some of Gaiman’s other books though!
I actually really enjoyed STARDUST! I thought it was whimsical and fantastical and just such a fun fairytale-type story to read. I even enjoyed the movie (which was pretty good). Glad you wound up liking it too!
I read Stardust a few years ago. I remember enjoying it, but I liked the very last bit of the ending better in the movie than the book.
I might have to try this one on audio! I actually really like fairy books, though it’s been a while since I read one! I’ve been wanting to read a Neil Gaiman book so this might be a good place to start. Thanks for the review!
I like this book a lot too. It’s not my favorite Gaiman novel though. I have almost all of his, but I haven’t read them all. Neverwhere is one of my most favorite books on the planet though, you should read that one next. Coraline and The Ocean at the End of the Lane are close seconds though!
This was actually the first Neil Gaiman book I ever read. I read it a month or so before the movie came out. I didn’t actually love this book. Maybe I would have enjoyed it more if I had listened to the audiobook, because I loved The Graveyard Book audiobook (Neil Gaiman kind of has a sexy voice, doesn’t he?)
Anyway, it’s been awhile since I read Stardust, so the details are fuzzy – more a blur actually – but I don’t think I was really all that interested in the characters. I loved how the story ended up tying together, but because I wasn’t really loving the characters a lot, I wasn’t that interested in their success or downfall.
Actually, as much as an avid reader shouldn’t say this, I liked the movie better. It’s quite a bit different from the book, but I just loved the characters. Also, I liked the music 🙂
I’m like you not really into fairies, but thanks for sharing! I love it’s cover!! I will definitely check out the other two recs you gave!
I never read this book, because I remember seeing the movie and disliking it. I always wish I’d read it before the movie, since I like everything else I’ve ever read by Neil Gaiman. Should I give it a try?